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February 7, 2007
Rendez-vous with John Waters / A date with John Waters

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Photo Hosted at BuzznetHallelujah. John Waters signait hier sa (très bonne) compilation de chansons pour la Saint Valentin, "A date with John Waters," à Amoeba Records à Hollywood où j'ai fait la queue avec 200 et quelques fans déjantés, dont ce jeune homme de Baltimore (ou un malin qui connait très bien l'attachement du "pape du trash" pour sa ville natale.) Il lui a laissé au passage une photo et un CV d'acteur... Une de plus sur la pile de cadeaux.

Hallelujah. John Waters was at Amoeba records yesterday in Hollywood to sign his (very good) Valentine's Day music compilation, "A date with John Waters." I queued with 200+ quirky fans, among them this Baltimore guy (or a smart letch who knows well the "Pope of trash"'s attachment to his hometown). He also left his headshot and actor's resume ... Another one on the pile of gifts.

Un fan barbu qui sentait le bar avait amené sa copie écornée et tâchée de Crackpot sous le bras (j'avais la mienne) et nous avons comparé nos chapitres préférés: j'adore le "John Waters' Tour of L.A." dans lequel il fouille les poubelles de stars et évite de regarder les piétons, "ces tristes figures de Los Angeles." Une jeune fille adorable posait beaucoup de questions, ses grands yeux écarquillés: elle ne connaissait pas bien l'oeuvre de John Waters mais avait décidé, enfant, que le personnage était merveilleux et une icône indispensable de l'Amérique moderne.

A bearded fan who smelled like a bar had brought his torn and stained copy of Crackpot under his arm (I had mine too) and we compared our favorite chapters: I love the "John Waters' Tour of L.A." where he goes dumpster diving outside star homes and avoids looking at the pedestrians, "those sad figures of L.A.." An adorable young woman asked a lot of questions, her big eyes wide open: she didn't know John Waters' oeuvre very well but had decided, as a child, that he was just a wonderful character and an indispensible icon of modern America.

On n'a guère de temps avec son idole au moment de la signature. Il a été gracieux et au cours de la conversation, m'a dit que je ne faisais pas mon âge, youhou. J'ai oublié de faire comme Antoine de Caunes, qui, selon la légende, prend soin de loucher sur toutes les photos un peu solennelles (avec des éminences grises, ministres, Chirac..) pour agrémenter sa gallerie personnelle -- il faut dire que j'étais contente comme tout. A force d'interviewer des célébrités, je pense de plus en plus qu'elles ferairent mieux de se taire et de garder un peu de mystère, mais pas John Waters. Si seulement il pouvait se remettre à publier des essais comme dans Rolling Stone comme dans les années 80 et donner suite à sa bio, Shocked Value!

When you're up for a signature, there's not much time with your idol. He was gracious and during our little exchange, expressed surprise at my age, yooohoo. I forgot to defuse the photo shoot like French TV star/cineast/producer Antoine de Caunes who, as the legend goes, carefully crosses his eyes on purpose in official pictures (with bigwigs, ministers, French prez Chirac..) to improve his personal gallery of pics for laughs -- but I was just so happy. As I interview celebrities for my job, I think more and more that they'd rather shut up and brew a little bit of mystery for a change but this doesn't apply to Waters. If only he could go back at publishing essays like the ones in Rolling Stone in the 80s or write a follow-up to his autobiography, Shocked Value!

Bonus link: Best John Waters fan site: Dreamland.

+ video promo of John Waters for his CD.

+ a 5 part-documentary on JW by Jonathan Ross on Youtube:

+ Morning Becomes Ecclectic (radio) Dec, 23 2005 + MBE Sept 21, 1998 + The Treatement with Elvis Mitchell (1997)

PS: merci LAist!

Posted by Emmanuelle at February 7, 2007 12:07 AM | TrackBack
Comments


Oh, man, I missed it. For some reason I thought it was actually going to be on Valentine's Day. Shock Value's the greatest. I love that story about the escalator that malfunctioned and ground up all those Boy Scouts. Now that's why you go into journalism!

Posted by: Paul Hrissikopoulos at February 8, 2007 2:04 PM

John Waters wrote excellent journalism indeed. Had to check Amazon Reader to find that passage about the escalator in the stadium:

"An entire scout troup was eaten by a beserk escalator on "Scout Day". The escalator was packed with baseball-crazed scouts when the escalator suddenly speeded up to five times its normal rate and began grinding up the little sports fans."

If you have a fondness for Edith Massey, Paul, and don't know this "Love letter to Edie" documentary, check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EOgZQHLtDw

Posted by: Emmanuelle at February 8, 2007 3:03 PM


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